Amputated legs of 2-yr-old rejoined at AJ Hospital, first in country

Mangaluru: Doctors at the AJ Hospital and Research Centre have successfully rejoined two legs of a two-year-old baby that were amputated.

Dr Prashanth Marla K, Medical Director and Transplant Surgeon on Friday informed that in an exceptionally rare successful surgery, Dr Dinesh Kadam, plastic surgeon and the team of doctors at A J Hospital and Research Centre , Mangalore have joined both lower limbs of a toddler that were amputated in a rail accident in Kerala. Both legs were successfully rejoined with micro-vascular surgery and by now the child is able to walk without support.

“Simultaneous amputation of both lower limbs is a rare occurrence, rejoining them is extremely rare, and so far only 13 successful cases have been reported across the world, including 4 children. So far none have been reported from India. Reported cases around the world include two each from: Belgium and Italy and; one each from -Scotland, Israel, Russia, Finland, China, Poland, Austria, South Korea and Taiwan). However, the one done by us is all the more rare because of the age of the patient, ” Dr Marla said.

After the mishap, the victim was transferred to Payyanur hospital. After giving first aid, the baby was referred to A J Hospital and Reasearch Centre hospital with limbs preserved in a box containing ice.

Rejoining or replanting a major limb amputation is a complex procedure, both for technical reasons and its effects on the patient and a decision is taken after explaining the pros and cons of the surgery to the family. However, in this case the hospital went ahead with the surgery with due consent from the railway police in the absence of the details of the child’s family, his mother having died in the rail mishap.

The team- Dr Sanath Bhandary , Dr Gautham Shetty( Plastic Surgeons), Dr Mithun Shetty(Orthopedic surgeon) and Dr Trivikrama Tantry(Anaesthesiologist) led by Dr Dinesh Kadam sucessfully performed the Microvascular Surgery that lasted for seven hours.

The baby has recovered immensely during the last six months and had great support from everyone, particularly the nursing staff who tended to his daily needs.